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C’ville updates tree work

CRIDERSVILLE — An area tree commission is taking beautification of the village through a step-by-step process.

Cridersville Tree Commission President Ken Dreitzler recently unveiled the board’s plan for work on Main Street.

“There are 10 to 11 trees that should come down because of crackage, blocking view of intersections and other issues,” Dreitzler said during a recent report to Cridersville Village Council.

Cridersville Tree Commission members, who went through the community as a group, evaluated the trees on the Main Street tree lawn.

Tree trimming is nearly finished, having begun on the east side of the Main Street and moving to the west side of the Main Street.

Dreitzler also noted that the commission is taking advantage of programs through the state, including seminars with professionals on trees.

Cridersville Tree Commission members and Cridersville village staff recently attended two informational meetings — an Ohio Division of Forestry meeting, which was held in Bluffton, and a tree trimming seminar, which was held in Defiance.

Dreitzler said they plan to take those skills learned and apply them to the village’s landscape on Main Street.

The next seminar they plan to attend will be held at Ohio Northern University.

These seminars help commission members to learn about trees that will be friendly to the community. Dreitzler said that they are reviewing different criteria of species of trees including their root growth, the height of the tree and the fruit or nuts they may have. This criteria will help to determine which trees will be most suitable for the village’s landscape.

The group is starting to plan for the next step, by looking at different kinds of trees to plant in the village, especially those spots created by the culling of trees. Dreitzler said they will be probably be looking at four different kinds of trees to plant, but he does not want to plant them all at the same time because of them maturing at the same time.

Cridersville Tree Commission Vice President Stacey Myers Cook noted at the January council meeting that the committee has learned a lot about planting and care of trees.

Right now, the village is researching new trees to possibly incorporate in the village, along with funding them.

“We have to compromise between people who want trees versus no trees,” Dreitzler said at the January council meeting.

Tree Commission members have been spending much time studying Main Street and integrating the street with suggestions from the state.

In addition, village officials are looking at the possibility of becoming apart of Tree City USA and looking at the criteria to do that.

For Cridersville to qualify as a Tree City USA village, the village must meet four guidelines. These guidelines were established by The Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.

The four standards include that someone must be legally responsible for the care and management of the community’s trees, the tree ordinance must designate the establishment of a tree board or forestry department and give this body the responsibility for writing and implementing an annual community forestry work plan, evidence is required that the community has established a community forestry program that is supported by an annual budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day celebration can be simple and brief or an all-day or all-week observation, according to arborday.org.